Oracle Secure Global Desktop (SGD) software provides secure access to both published applications and published desktops running on Microsoft Windows,

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

, mainframe and IBM i systems via a variety of clients ranging from fat PCs to thin clients such as Sun Rays.

History

In 1993 the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO, later Tarantella, Inc.) acquired

IXI Limited IXI Limited was a British software company that developed and marketed windowing products for Unix, supporting all the popular Unix platforms of the time. Founded in 1987, it was based in Cambridge. The product it was most known for was X.desktop ...

, a software company in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, UK, best known for its X.desktop product. In 1994 it then bought

Visionware Visionware Ltd was a British software company that developed and marketed products that helped integration of Microsoft Windows clients to Unix-based server applications. It was based in Leeds in West Yorkshire. The three products it was most ...

, of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, UK, developers of XVision. In 1995 the development teams from IXI and Visionware were combined to form IXI Visionware, later the Client Integration Division of SCO. A development team within this division began work in 1996 on a project codenamed ''Tarantella''. The goal of this project was "any application, any client, anywhere": access to applications of any type (hosted on back-end

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

s) from any

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuabl ...

device that supported a

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

-enabled

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...

. The project codename stuck: it became the final product name. The first public release of Tarantella software was in November 1997. Later version 1.x releases supported more application types (such as Microsoft Windows applications) and client types (including Native Clients to remove the dependency on Java support), and added scalability and security features to better support larger enterprises and secure application access over the Internet. The product was renamed ''Tarantella Enterprise II'' in late 1999, with a cut-down ''Tarantella Express'' product available on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

systems. This renaming was a simple rebrand of the then-current 1.x release: no version 2.x software was released. In November 2000 version 3.0 of the product was released, including a major rewrite of much server-side code in the Java language. The product was rebranded as ''Tarantella Enterprise 3'', with releases for Linux and major UNIX systems. Further 3.x releases followed in subsequent years, adding more integration features in competition with similar software from

Citrix Citrix Systems, Inc. is an American multinational cloud computing and virtualization technology company that provides server, application and desktop virtualization, networking, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud computing technologi ...

. Sun Microsystems acquired Tarantella, Inc. in July 2005. The product underwent massive development in the following years. As of April 2021, the current version is ''Oracle Secure Global Desktop 5.6.535''.

Overview

SGD is considered by industry insiders to be a competitor to

's products for remote application delivery. A large range of client devices can connect to a Secure Global Desktop Server, including Microsoft Windows PCs, Solaris desktops, Apple Macintoshes, Linux PCs, thin clients such as those from Sun and

Wyse WYSE (970 AM) is a radio station located in Canton, North Carolina, that simulcasts WISE's sports format from Asheville, North Carolina. Owned by the Asheville Radio Group subsidiary of Saga Communications, the station is licensed by the Fed ...

, and

mobile devices A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

. The client requires only a

with a

Java Runtime Environment Java is a set of computer software and specifications developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, which was later acquired by the Oracle Corporation, that provides a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cros ...

installed. A client device connects to the Secure Global Desktop Server either via a supported

-enabled browser or via Native Client software (this "native client" can be downloaded from a SGD installation's login page, i.e. instead of logging in and letting the Java applet handle the connection automatically for you, you could instead do it manually by downloading this "native client" from the SGD main login page, install it locally, and then launch it and connect via this). When you connect via a browser the first time as a client, the SGD client (the client-side of the aforementioned Java component) is downloaded so you can then SSL-encrypt your connection. The system officially supports Mozilla Firefox,

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems ( ...

, and Safari, but other browsers might work too for as long as they have access to a working

-plugin. The latest

is recommended but at least version 1.5 is required. The Desktop Client connects to the Secure Global Desktop Server via the Adaptive Internet Protocol (AIP). AIP is bandwidth- and latency-aware and can adjust compression and performance dynamically on links as diverse as a 56K modem or a 100Mb LAN. Session Resumability and Mobility is a feature allowing remote access to desktop applications from essentially any Java-enabled browser in the world. This makes it possible to run applications in one's office, then go to another location such as a customer site or one's home and transfer your existing desktop session to a computer there. Centralisation is an important feature for organizations concerned with secure data being stored on remote devices such as notebook computers, and the associated risk for theft of the device and its data. Applications accessed via SGD run in the centralised

server room A server room is a room, usually air-conditioned, devoted to the continuous operation of computer servers. An entire building or station devoted to this purpose is a data center. The computers in server rooms are usually headless systems that ca ...

, meaning that all data is backed up and secured via the normal datacenter practices of the organization. There is a potential for increased performance and efficiency, since the actual computation is performed on larger systems with more resources; centralisation also makes resources considerably easier to manage. Applications can be assigned to users or groups of users using the Object Manager which can automatically present new applications to users dynamically without them needing to log out. Profiles can be created to group similar types of users; these profiles control the applications that a logged-in user is allowed to use. When a new application or an upgrade to an existing application is required, an administrator can just push these changes out to the users. This simplifies Desktop SOE migrations. SGD's password-caching feature, authentication tokens, and ability to integrate with

Active Directory Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of Process (computing), processes and Windows service, services. Initially, Active D ...

and

LDAP The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP ) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory servi ...

gives it the ability to easily set up

single sign-on Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. True single sign-on allows the user to log in once and access services without re-enterin ...

to applications: a user logs into SGD once, and then can run applications without having to perform an additional login—even if there are usernames and passwords used for the different back-end applications. With the same SGD infrastructure one can host an organisation's internal desktop applications, but also be able to access desktop applications remotely without the need for expensive

VPN A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...

solutions. The Firewall Traversal Feature makes it possible to put an application server in an organisation's

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

with only port 443 (

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is enc ...

) accessible from the outside world. An SGD server can be accessed via HTTP or HTTPS. SGD also integrates with the

Sun Java System Portal Server The Sun Java System Portal Server is a component of the Sun Java Platform, Enterprise Edition, a software system that supports a wide range of enterprise computing needs. Portal Server allows administrators and delegated administrators to build p ...

making it possible to deliver desktop applications via a Secure Portal using a

Portlet The Java Portlet Specification defines a contract between the portlet container and portlets and provides a convenient programming model for Java portlet developers. Portlets are pluggable user interface software components that are managed and ...

, including the ability to mail, calendar and other Portal features. Sun Java System Identity Manager can also manage all user accounts and passwords via one webform, including integration of LDAP, Active Directory, Oracle or other commercial or home-grown access control repositories.

Features

*Since version 4.5, SGD provides SGD Gateway. This allows clients to access the infrastructure in a different physical network. The SGD Gateway splits the traffic. *SGD integration into the GNOME Launch Menu and Windows clients'

Start Menu The Start menu is a graphical user interface element used in Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 and in other operating systems. It provides a central launching point for computer programs and performing other tasks in the Windows shell. It is name ...

; clients can connect to an SGD server when they log into their client automatically, without the need to open up a browser. Desktop icons can be created to start applications via SGD without the user being aware of SGD's presence. *Significantly improved bandwidth utilization and screen rendering, making it considerably faster than the previous version. The screen rendering engine has been rewritten from scratch to be made more bandwidth aware and efficient and also to increase rendering performance of the desktop applications. Sun reports 30% faster screen rendering and 80% improvement of bandwidth efficiency. *LDAP and Active Directory supported as login authority sources, multiple LDAP/ADs can be configured *Windows support *Support for Client Drive Mapping and Local Printer Mapping *Support for serial port forwarding *Oracle Secure Global Desktop Software runs on Solaris 10 (

SPARC SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system develope ...

and

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was intr ...

), Solaris 9 and 8 (SPARC only),

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial open-source Linux distribution developed by Red Hat for the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86-64, Power ISA, ARM64, and IBM Z and a desktop ...

5 (x86 32-bit). Oracle Enterprise Linux. The November 2007 release of version 4.4 introduced a web-based management console that replaced the Java-based Object Manager and Array Manager tools that were first introduced in version 3.0. On April 30, 2013, Oracle released version 5.0 which used

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...

to provide remote access to applications, especially for mobile devices such as the

Apple iPad An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...